I ::heart:: TPBs

You know, I don't know if I'd ever made clear just how much I love trade paperbacks, now that I'm back into the comic book thing.

The concept, anyway.

Back in the day ("the day" being the late 70s), when I decided I wanted to catch up on a new find (Legion of Superheroes comes to mind; I did occasionally get a back issue of Avengers or Fantastic Four, but with the reprint books going then--Marvel Triple Action and Marvel's Greatest Comics, respectively--it wasn't a priority), here's what I had to do:

1. Look through the ads in a comic book to find a place that sold back issues. (Back then, most of the ads in comics were small--there were a few half-page ads, even an occasional whole-page ad, but more often there were several columns of small classified-size ads on a page. They don't do that anymore, and I have no idea what ever happened to the many smaller comic-focused businesses that used to advertise there.) I don't remember the name of the place I settled on, but I believe it was in Canada.

2. Send off for their catalog and wait.

3. When the catalog arrived, make my choices. Most of these catalogs had no pictures, just long lists of comics and how much they cost at each grade. I usually got "Good" or "Very Good" if they had it (newer comics usually weren't available beyond "Fine")--I just wanted to read them, I didn't much care how they looked.

4. Send off the order and wait.

5. Tear open the box and read them all in an afternoon. No, wait, that's what I do now...when I was a kid, I had more patience (not yet having been spoiled by the internet) and actually took my time and savored each page, knowing that it would be a long while until I had more new material.

Now, however...

When I started reading Captain America starting at about issue 9 of the most recent run (because I never seem to get in on the ground floor of these things) I liked it, and wanted to read the first eight issues. This time around, though, all I had to do was order the trade paperback which collected the rest. How much easier was that? (Not to mention, how much cheaper?)

And I'd never be picking up on the JLA if it weren't for these books--which would be a real shame because I'm quite enjoying them. I realize that they're not really catching me up to the current state of things, but hey, at least I know that Hal and Barry aren't in the group anymore. I'm not planning on buying more for a while. I think I have enough of a grasp on history to follow things. (As much as that's possible at the moment--I suspect I picked a less-than-ideal point in time to discover DC...)

I gather there's quite a market of incredibly patient people who don't buy anything in single issues--they always "wait for the trade." But not every comic is turned into a book, is it? How do they know whether their wait will eventually be rewarded? And how long will it take? Brave souls.

In other news, the 11-year-old asked when the comics are coming. She's anxious to see the next Civil War books. Go figure. :)